Radio frequency identification (RFID) is finding increasing application to inventory and point-of-purchase control for products that are mass merchandised. In large chain store systems, product suppliers typically are allotted a very specific shelf or wall area in individual stores of the chain. Typically, substantial sums of money are required to be paid by the suppliers for the allotment of such shelf or wall space for the display of the supplier""s product. Because of the significant costs involved, and the limited space available, suppliers devote considerable time and effort to the design of the planograms for their product space, seeking to achieve maximum product sales from the display space provided. In many cases, the manufacturers visit the individual stores on a regular basis to review the state of their planogram, and make certain that merchandise is displayed where it is supposed to be displayed, and that there are adequate quantities of each product.
RFID procedures can be employed to advantage in managing and monitoring such product displays on a remote basis, minimizing the need for personal visitations by manufacturer""s representatives. Using RFID systems, each product item can be provided with an individual identification tag, which is specific not only to the class of product, but even individual to each particular product item within the class. A radio frequency reader element is associated with the product display, and is activated periodically, for example as frequently as twice a minute. When the reader is in operation, the identification tag of each product item within range of the reader is activated and returns its unique identification code to the reader, which can then transmit the information to any of various remote locations, enabling the supplier to know on a substantially continuous basis which product items are selling and the rate of such sales. Additionally, the RFID information transmitted can also indicate when a particular product item has been misplaced in the planogram, as frequently occurs when a prospective customer picks up an item for inspection and replaces it in a different location. The technology for such RFID inventory management systems is well known to those in the art.
Many products are preferentially displayed in columns which extend on a shelf or wall mounted in a row from front to back. Pusher means are provided at the back of the product column, such that when a customer selects and removes a product item from the front of the display, the balance of the product column will be moved forward by the pusher element acting on the back of the column. Such pusher arrangements are well known and in widespread use in merchandise displays. Typically, however, such pusher arrangements have been incompatible with RFID inventory management techniques, because of the interference caused by the metal spring element of the pusher device.
Conventional, widely used pusher arrangements for product displays typically employ a coiled strip spring, anchored at its forward end, and having its coiled body confined within portions of a movable pusher sled arranged for back to front sliding movement to urge product items in a forward direction. When loading a column of product items, the sled is moved to a retracted position. During the retracting movement, the strip spring is progressively uncoiled and the uncoiled portions extend along the bottom of the display column, lying underneath the various product items positioned in front of the pusher sled. As product items are removed from the column, the spring recoils itself, advancing the sled and urging the remaining products in a forward direction.
Although pusher sleds as of the type described above are in widespread use, they create a problem in connection with RFID inventory control, because of the presence of the metal spring material directly under the products, typically in close adjacency to the RF identification tag, which is preferentially mounted on the bottom of the product.
Pursuant to one aspect of the present invention, a novel and improved product pusher arrangement is provided which accommodates and optimizes the ability to monitor product items in a pusher activated display, using RFID techniques. To this end, the pusher sled incorporates a spring-operated reel carrying a flexible tape or the like formed of a non-metallic material, such as nylon or other suitable plastic. The non-metallic tape, serving as a tension element, is arranged to underlie the monitored product items, when the sled is in a retracted position. The arrangement is such that, as the sled is retracted, the non-metallic tension element is withdrawn from the wheel, which is simultaneously being acted upon by a spring associated with the reel, preferably housed internally thereof. As the sled is retracted, and the tension element is withdrawn from the reel, the spring is correspondingly wound up, urging the reel to rotate in a direction to retract the tension element. Thus, in the system of the invention, the metallic return spring element is positioned entirely behind the front surface of the sled, so as to be offset from the displayed product items, allowing the items to be reliably activated and read by a radio frequency reader device.
In a preferred and advantageous form of the invention, a product display arrangement incorporates a tray with laterally spaced dividing walls forming a multiple column product display. Each column is provided with a pusher sled of the type described above, including a spring-driven reel mounted on the sled and carrying a non-metallic tension element for urging the sled toward the front of the display. A radio frequency reader board, operating on known RFID principles, is mounted underneath the divided tray, so as to be directly underneath the product items displayed thereon. To advantage, the reader is repetitively activated to read the contents of each channel and identify each product remaining therein. The non-metallic tension elements of the several pusher sleds enable the individual products to be accurately detected, such that essentially real time inventory information is available to the store and to the supplier; The invention enables RFID detection and control to be effectively put to use in connection with pusher displays of all kinds, thus greatly expanding the practical utility of RFID inventory management techniques.